This invention relates to noninvasive, remote method and apparatus for detecting early phases of neuro diseases such as the non-tremor phase of Parkinson's disease, dyskinesia, dyslexia and neuroatrophy etc. etc. from five words spoken either directly into a microphone connected to a local analysis system or remotely, as by way of a telephone link to such a system for analysis of time and frequency domains of speech characteristics representative of the presence of disease.
The onset of Parkinson's, for example, may not exhibit any outward symptoms for up to ten years prior to the onset of involuntary, rhythmic shaking of a patient's hands, head or both. Other symptoms may include excessive salvation, and abdominal cramps. In the advanced stages of Parkinson's, memory and thought processes may also deteriorate. An early non-tremor phase detection of Parkinson's and other neuro diseases or neurodegeneration is desirable so that appropriate remedial medication may improve the quality of life for the patients as well as reduce the cost of healthcare both to the subject's families and to government and private health care systems.
Presently, no reliable pre-symptomatic diagnostic method or apparatus is known to exist. Furthermore, physicians find it difficult to distinguish Parkinson's from other neuro diseases in their early phases. Time consuming and expensive methods such as magnetic resonance imaging or body fluid analysis are neither completely effective nor economical.
Recently, researchers offered some evidence of a genetic link for late-onset Parkinson's disease. Some psychologists claim to identify Alzheimer with 80% success from touch tone telephone instructions such as “spell fun” and press “1” if a recorded sentence makes sense etc. Extensions of available diagnostic techniques occasionally help prediagnose neuro-dysfunctions other than Parkinson's. For instance, a male patient on Parkinson's medication was found to suffer from another neuro disorder, whereas a female patient on Parkinson's medication was found to suffer from extreme stress instead. Therefore, the need for accurate methods of detection of a variety of neurodiseases are badly needed.
Many inventors have claimed to noninvasively detect diseases while using body sensors, such as devices for diagnosing migraine headaches by monitoring the effective diameter of preselected blood vessels supplying blood to the brain. Similarly, the use of a retinal image to determine retinal disease and the use of a confocal microscope to observe diseases of finger nail, toe nail, and the skin or a mucus membrane have been described in the prior art. Remote monitoring of multiple medical parameters via RF signals from a patient attached to monitors is also known. However, there is no system or apparatus available to remotely and completely noninvasively, without any sensors attached to the body, detect the early phases of neuro diseases such as Parkinson's, neuro atrophy, dyskinesia, etc.